C7-> 


u~‘!p 
tl-  5" 


7 i 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MISSIONS 


ox 


PEOPLE  AND  NATIONS: 

A DISCOURSE 

PKEACHEO  BY  THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  NASHVILLE,  AT  THEIR 
MEETING  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NASHVILLE,  OCTOBER  4tH,  1854, 

BT  REV.  WILLIAM  H.  MITCHELL. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST  OF  SYNOD. 

. 4 


NASHVILLE: 

J.  F.  MORGAN,  FINE  JOB  AND  BOOK  PRINTER. 

18  54. 


SERMON. 


Isaiah  xxxv:  i.  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be 
glad  for  them  ; and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Under  the  figure  of  n desert  covered  with  vegetation 
and  adorned  with  flowers,  we  have,  in  the  text,  a prediction 
of  the  vocation  of  the  Gentiles,  and  of  the  glorious 
* triumphs  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  Long,  indeed,  did 
the  nations  remain  as  a bleak  and  barren  desert,  without 
any  blossoms  of  piety  or  fruits  of  holiness;  but  when 
God’s  own  Son  died  on  the  cross,  “ the  just  for  the 
unjust,”  the  wilderness  and  solitary  place  were  made  glad. 

We  use  the  passage  to  describe  the  success  of  Missions. 
The  grand  object  of  Missions  is  the  conversion  to  God  of 
a world  lying  in  wickedness.  This  idea  should  never  be 
overlooked — never  be  forgotten.  In  prosecuting  the  work 
to  this  object,  every  other  must  be  esteemed  subordinate. 
But,  whilst  this  is  true,  we  think  the  secular  and  secondary 
benefits  of  Missions  are  so  great  and  important  as  to 
deserve  at  least  an  occasional  consideration.  On  this  point 
comparatively  little  has  been  written  or  spoken.  Some  of 
these  collateral  advantages  and  blessings  we  intend  to  dis- 
cuss in  this  discourse. 


4 


It  is  true,  as  it  is  trite,  that  this  is  an  age  of  progress. 
Silently  it  may  be,  but  resistlessly  onward  and  onward  is 
man  advancing.  Past  attainments  inspire  yet  more  earnest 
efforts  after  higher  achievements.  But  although  the  forces 
of  nature  have  been  impressed  and  enlisted  in  the  service 
of  man  ; although  the  circumference  of  knowledge  has 
been  enlarged,  and  each  segment  of  the  circle  more  thor- 
oughly mastered  ; although  the  fact  is  patent  before  every 
observant  eye,  that,  from  the  garden  of  science  planted  by 
our  ancesi^rs,  we  are  gathering  richer  clusters  of  mellow 
fruit  than  the  ancients  in  their  dreams  of  the  Ilesperides 
ever  painted ; and  although  the  area  of  freedom  has  been 
increased  and  the  domain  of  despotism  diminished — it  is  a 
deplorable  fact,  that  there  are  multitudes  of  men  and 
women  sunk  deep,  very  deep,  in  the  mire  of  ignorance  and 
idolatry ; on  whose  benighted  minds  neither  the  star  of 
civilization  nor  of  science  dawns ; on  whose  hearts  the 
refulgent  beams  of  Christianity  have  not  risen. 

Yon  will  admit,  then,  it  is  a very  grave  and  momentous 
question — a question  which  must  interest  every  patriot 
and  philanthropist — by  what  lever-power  shall  these  mil- 
lions be  raised  from  the  slough  of  barbarism  and  moral 
degradation,  and  placed  on  the  rock  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  ? To  this  interrogatory  w'e  reply,  that  to  civilize 
the  savage  nations  of  the  earth,  to  enlighten  and  polish  the 
untutored  heathen,  the  dissemination  of  the  Christian 
religion  is  incomparably  the  best  instrumentality. 

By  civilization  we  understand,*  “ the  conversion  or  trans- 
formation of  a country  or  people  from  a savage  or  barba- 
rous state,  into  a state  formed  by  a due  regard  to  the  prin- 
ciples and  obligations,  the  habits  and  manners  of  social  life, 


Tl.eese’s  Etcvclop. 


5 


by  the  means  of  mental  and  moral  instruction,  salutiiry 
laws,  and  regular  government.” 

When  we  survey  man  in  his  highest  relations,  as  an 
intelligent,  intellectual  creature,  exalted  above  the  beasts 
that  perish,  created  in  the  image  of  his  Maker,  endowed 
with  an  immortal  soul,  accountable  for  his  thoughts,  words 
and  actions  to  the  tribunal  of  Jehovah — we  shall  at  once 
arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that  right  notions  of  the  duties  he 
owes  to  God  and  his  fellow-man  lie  at  the  very  foundation 
both  of  individual  and  national  advancement.  Incorrect 
views,  either  of  the  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  God  or 
man,  must  operate  injuriously  on  our  S3'stem  of  ethics;  and 
an  erroneous  morality  must  necessarily  be  detrimental  to  a 
nation’s  true  prosperity  and  refinement.  But  has  the 
nation  ever  existed  which  understood  and  discharged  the 
duties  it  owed  to  God  and  man,  without  a knowledge  of 
the  Christian  religion  ? 

Shall  W’e  direct  your  attention  to  the  great  Assyrian 
power — to  Babylon — to  Media — Persia — Egypt  ? These 
godless  nations  have  all  vanished,  leaving  us  in  their  ruins 
the  monuments  of  their  former  grandeur. 

If  we  examine  the  history  of  Borne  we  shall  find,  that 
during  her  different  governments,  of  kings,  and  consuls, 
and  decemvirs,  and  dictators,  and  even  during  the  reign  of 
Augustus  the  demi-god — the  leading  features  of  the  Roman 
conquerors,  taken  as  a wdiole,  were  an  insatiable  thirst  for 
renown,  and  an  enthusiastic  love  of  national  fame.  But, 
as  a people,  they  were  ignorant,  superstitious  and  profligate. 
They  had  no  deep  reverence  for  truth,  no  indomitable  love 
of  justice  and  equity,  no  irrepressible  desire  to  civilize  and 
elevate  the  human  family.  To  establish  on  a solid  basis 
the  individual  rights  of  man ; to  raise  the  masses  to  their 
proper  level  in  the  scale  of  social  and  political  existence;  to 
give  freedom  of  thought  and  freedom  of  action  to  the  people, 


c 


were  not  the  grand  conceptions  of  the  Roman  goremment. 
And  what  became  of  their  golden  Capitol  with  its  brazen 
gates,  their  splendid  p»antheon  with  its  marble  walls  ; their 
gorgeous  temples,  their  triumphal  arches,  their  forum,  their 
pillars  and  porticos  ? What  became  of  these  monuments 
of  Roman  grandeur  and  valor  and  victory  ? They  were 
trodden  down  and  trampled  in  the  dust  by  Visi-Goths  and 
Vandals,  Huns  and  Heruli.  And  a night — a dart,  dark 
night — of  indolence  and  ignorance  fell  on  the  mighty 
nation  whose  brilliant  exploits  dazzled  the  dauntless  and 
terrified  the  timid. 

A glance  at  Greece  will  not  lead  us  to  a different  con- 
clusion. In  the  days  of  Alexander,  she  laid  claims  to 
unparalleled  wisdom  and  invincible  valor;  and  w'as  justly 
regarded  as  the  most  cultivated  country  in  the  world.  But 
any  close  observer  of  their  history  may  perceive  that  the 
rulers  who  imposed  wholesome  restnctions  on  their  lawless 
passions,  soon  sunk  into  disrepute  and  forfeited  the  favor 
of  the  populace,  whilst  those  who  permitted  them  to  give 
free  scope  to  their  vile  sensuality  and  unbridled  appetites, 
were  lauded  to  the  skies  as  the  true  patrons  of  liberty. 

What  the  common  people  sought  w'as  not  a republican 
government,  with  proper  checks  and  balances,  but  a lawless 
democracy.  Their  aspirations  were  for  freedom  from  res- 
traint, and  to  be  allowed  to  pursue,  with  blind  frenzy,  their 
own  licentious  impulses,  caprices  and  passions.  Their 
civilization  was  municipal,  not  grasping  the  idea  of  the 
power  of  personal  existence,  and  energ}g  and  responsibility ; 
and  was  incapable  of  developing  the  faculties  of  the  indi- 
vidual man.  The  mild  and  social  virtues  were  never 
assiduously  cultivated.  Avarice,  briber}'  and  corruption 
abounded.  Tliere  is  scarce  a black  and  foul  excrescence  on 
the  loathsome  carcass  of  sin  that  was  not  found  in  exuber- 
ance in  Athens.  The  impure  Wythology  of  Greece  ; the 


7 


* 

libidinous  legends  and  the  unblushing  allusions  of  their 
purest  writers  to  the  most  revolting  vices — all  go  to  prove 
how  deep  was  their  moral  degradation,  and  how  very  far 
they  were  from  having  attained  a high  state  of  civilization 
and  refinement. 

And  where  are  now  her  Attic  fountains  distilling  waters 
of  poetic  inspiration  ? Where  her  fragrant  groves  and 
magnificent  temples  ? Where  is  the  glory  of  her  Parthe- 
non, the  pride  of  her  brave  sons  and  beautiful  daughters, 
and  the  wonder  of  their  posterity  ? Where  is  the  mother 
of  eloquence,  the  cradle  of  song,  the  home  of  the  Muses  ? 
Where  are  the  men  of  might  who  once  dwelt  within  the 
walls  of  Athens?  Where  is  the  voice  of  genius  which  was 
wont  to  sway  her  “ fierce  democracy,”  and  make  the  Athe- 
nian bosom  glow  afresh  with  national  enthusiasm  ? Her 
deserted  groves,  her  dilapidated  temples  and  mouldering 
columns,  afford  a most  melancholy  illustration  of  the  insta- 
bility of  human  governments  established  on  the  sliding 
quicksands  of  idolatry  and  polytheism.  Says  a beautiful 
writer : Had  the  vale  of  Tempo  been  the  garden  of 

Gethsemane,  had  Olympus  been  Calvary,  and  had  the 
ambiguous  responses  of  the  Delphic  Oracle  been  the  sure 
testimony  of  the  Word  of  God,  then  had  not  the  swaddling 
clothes  that  wrapped  her  infant  liberty  so  soon  have  proved 
its  winding  sheet.” 

The  history,  both  of  Greece  and  Home,  affords  proof,  we 
think,  of  the  fact,  that  reason  may  rise  to  the  zenith, 
whilst  virtue  and  morality  may  at  the  same  time  sink  to 
the  nadir. 

II.  Let  us,  in  the  second  place,  briefly  advert  to  the 
superior  adaptation  of  the  Christian  religion  to  civilize,  and 
in  the  highest  degree  refine  the  barbarous  and  benighted 
nations  of  the  earth;  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  civil  and  religious  libert}% 


One  of  its  leading  doctrines  is,  that  man  is  accountable 
for  his  conduct  to  a holy  God,  at  whose  judgment  bar  we 
must  all  appear. 

We  are  taught  that  Ilis  All-seeing  eye  blazes  on  the 
inmost  soul,  and  that  its  every  conception,  virtuous  or 
vicious,  is  naked  and  open  before  Him.  The  concentration 
of  all  the  religious  feelings  and  emotions  on  one  great, 
powerful  and  perfect  Object,  must  necessarily  produce  a 
most  salutary  impression  on  the  moral  sentiment  of  any 
nation  or  people. 

Again,  it  shows  its  adaptation  to  elevate  man’s  social 
and  civil  condition  when  it  makes  the  announcement,  that 
we  have  all  one  Father,  and  one  God  created  us.” 

Let  the  people  feel  that  there  is  one  common  ground 
which  all  may  occupy,  without  regard  to  adventitious  cir- 
cumstances, and  you  inspire  all  classes  with  confidence ; 
you  give  stability  to  the  institutions  of  the  country,  and 
you  impart  peace,  contentment  and  happiness  to  its  citi- 
zens. And  just  such  a platform  does  Christianity  present 
wdien  it  proclaims  that — “ God  has  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations : ” that  W'e  have  one  common  Father,  and  are  all 
members  of  the  same  great  family. 

Another  of  its  foundation  principles  is — Love.  It  incul- 
cates the  most  enlarged  charity — the  noblest  philanthropy. 
We  are  commanded  to  love  the  Lord  with  all  our  hearts,  and 
our  neighbors  as  ourselves.  “ Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his 
neighbor  ; therefore,  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.”  The 
conspicuous  display  of  God’s  love  to  man  in  the  gift  of  His 
Sou,  requiring  man’s  love  to  God  in  return,  is  the  flowing 
fountain  from  which  all  the  pure  streams  of  charity  do 
emanate.  Engraft  this  principle  on  the  heart  of  any  people, 
and,  in  proportion  to  its  growth,  will  proud  domination  and 
lordly  oppression  hide  their  diminished’  heads. 

Christianity,  moreover,  possesses  a marvellous  compre- 


9 


hensiveness.  It  prescribes,  and  most  powerfully  and  per- 
suasively inculcates,  the  relative  duties  which  wo  owe  to 
each  other,  to  our  families  and  to  our  country. 

Upon  each  and  all  temperance,  honesty,  punctuality, 
hospitality  and  courtesy  are  enjoined.  The  rich  are  told 
that  to  despise  the  poor  is  to  reflect  on  God  : “ Whoso 

mocketh  the  poor  reproacheth  his  Maker.”  They  are  com- 
manded to  be  “ ready  to  distribute  and  willing  to  commu- 
nicate ” to  the  needy.  And  the  poor  are  exhorted  to  be 
contented  with  their  condition.  It  comes  with  its  kindly 
admonitions  into  the  family,  and  charges  husbands  to  love 
their  wives  as  their  own  bodies,  and  wives  to  submit  to  their 
own  husbands  as  unto  God ; parents  not  to  provoke  their 
children  to  wrath,  and  to  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord;  children  to  love  their  parents  and  to 
obey  them  in  the  Lord ; masters  it  commands  to  give 
to  their  servants  things  just  and  equal,  and  to  forbear 
threatening,  knowing  that  their  master  is  in  heaven  ; ser- 
vants to  count  their  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  obedient 
in  all  things,  not  answering  again,  not  purloining  their 
goods,  not  eye  servants,  faithful  in  all  things,  and  to  per- 
form all  their  service  under  the  eye  and  in  the  fear  of  God. 
It  speaks  with  authoritative  voice  to  the  patriot,  and  orders 
him  to  render  unto  all  their  dues — honor  to  whom  honor  is 
due — to  obey  the  laws  of  his  country,  to  respect  and  pray 
for  magistrates,  remembering  that  civil  government  is 
God’s  ordinance.  It  recognizes  no  “higher  law.”  To 
magistrates  it  issues  its  mandate  from  the  King  of  heaven, 
to  wield  the  power  with  which,  under  God,  they  are  invested, 
for  the  punishment  of  vice  and  for  the  promotion  of  virtue. 

Now  we  enquire,  is  it  possible  to  conceive  or  devise  any 
code  of  laws  so  well  adapted  to  civilize,  cultivate  and  dig- 
nify man  as  a social  creature — so  admirably  calculated  to 
develop  his  mental  and  moral  powers,  as  are  the  precepts  of 


10 

Christianity  ? How  vast,  how  incalculable  the  benefits  and 
advantages  which  would  accrue  to  mankind,  if  they  swayed 
the  minds  and  regulated  the  conduct  of  the  millions  who 
now  sit  in  heathen  darkness,  the  abject  slaves  of  supersti- 
tion and  idolatry  ! 

Vt  here  amongst  the  writings  of  sages,  or  philosophers,  or 
jurists,  can  the  legislator  find  such  correct  principles  for 
the  ground  work  of  legislation  ? Where  can  the  masses 
find  such  wholesome  admonitions — inducing  them  on  the 
one  hand  to  entertain  a high  respect  for  law  and  order,  and 
on  the  other,  to  repudiate  the  idea  of  slavish  cringiug  to 
unrighteous  power  ? 

Such  teachings  of  charity,  honesty,  benevolence  and 
beneficence ; such  sound  philosophy,  pure  morality,  mag- 
nanimous philanthropy  as  are  found  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
are,  unquestionably,  opposed  to  ignorance,  selfishness  and 
licentiousness — to  every  species  of  injustice,  fraud  and 
peculation.  Where  such  principles  prevail,  man  will  not 
attempt  to  usurp  the  rights  of  his  fellow-man,  or  trample 
on  the  privileges  of  his  neighbor.  No  : under  its  benign 
influence  the  rights  of  the  poor  man  in  his  log  shanty  shall 
be  respected  and  protected,  as  well  as  those  of  the  rich 
man  in  his  splendid  mansion.  Let  the  principles  of  our 
holy  religion  spread  and  flourish,  and  they  shall  become 
the  best  palladium  of  individual  rights,  and  the  peaceful 
panoply  of  civil  liberty.  “ The  religion,”  says  De  Tocque- 
ville,  which  declares  that  all  are  equal  in  the  sight  of  God, 
will  not  refuse  to  acknowledge  that  all  citizens  are  equal  in 
the  eyes  of  the  law.”  The  precepts  of  Christianity  sweep 
away  the  distinctions  of  caste,  which  are  the  greatest  barrier 
to  the  civilization  and  evangelization  of  myriads  of  heathen. 
The  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  neither  pampem  nor  fosters 
hereditary  privileges.  It  prostrates  the  proud  pretensions 
of  the  few  who  would  lord  it  over  the  many.  It  checks 


11 


the  haughty  assumption  of  the  great — it  prevents  the  ser- 
vile submission  of  the  lowly.  It  raises  to  their  proper 
position  the  poor  and  penniless  populace.  It  tells  them 
they  have  rights — heaven-constituted  rights  and  immuni- 
ties— which  appertain  to  them  as  creatures  of  the  same 
Creator  and  the  progeny  of  the  same  progenitor ; rights 
which  riches  do  not  confer,  and  which  power  must  not 
alienate.  It  proclaims  to  the  prince  on  his  throue,  that 
the  beggar  at  his  gate  is  his  brother. 

So  broad  and  expansive  are  the  principles  of  Christianity, 
that  there  is  no  man  so  exalted  as  to  be  beyond  their  con- 
trol— none  so  despicable  as  to  be  below  their  influence. 
They  extend  to  the  degraded  inhabitants  of  Greenland,  as 
well  as  to  the  citizens  of  proud  Britain ; to  the  benighted 
African,  as  well  as  to  the  enlightened  American.  Compared 
with  the  glorious  privileges  which  the  Gospel  bestows,  how 
insignificant  and  absurd  appear  the  escutcheons  of  a titled 
aristocracy — their^inctures  of  argent,  and  azure,  and  san- 
guine, and  sable ; their  bucklers  and  banners;  their  mitres 
and  mantlings  ! The  man  who  loves  and  fears  the  Lord 
has  graven  on  his  heart  the  heraldry  of  the  court  of 
heaven.  He  belongs  to  the  commonwealth  of  Israel.  He 
is  a fellow-citizen  Avith  the  saints  and  of  the  household  of 
God.  He  is  a joint  heir  with  Jehovah’s  Son.  He  shall 
occupy  a throue,  and  through  the  cycles  of  eternity  wear 
a glorious  crown. 

These  vieAvs  have  been  fully  sustained  by  the  ablest 
statesmen  and  the  most  learned  jurists. 

“The  history  of  Europe,”  says  Chancellor  Kent  in  his 
Commentary,  “ during  the  earlier  periods  of  modern  history, 
abounds  with  interesting  and  strong  cases  to  shoAV  the 
authority  of  revelation  oA’er  turbulent  princes  and  fierce 
warriors,  and  the  effect  of  that  authority  in  meliorating 
manners,  checking  violence,  and  introducing  a s}'stem  of 
monfls  which  inculcated  peace,  moderation  and  justice.” 


12 


The  eminent  judge,  Sir  Allen  Park,  said  : ‘‘  We  live  in 

the  midst  of  blessings  till  we  are  utterly  insensible  to  their 
greatness,  and  of  our  civilization,  our  arts,  our  freedom,  our 
laws,  and  forget  entirely  how  much  is  due  to  Christianity. 
Blot  Christianity  out  of  the  pages  of  man’s  history,  and 

what  would  his  laws  have  been — what  his  civilization? 

Not  a law  that  does  not  owe  its  truth  and  gentleness  to 
Christianity — not  a custom  which  cannot  be  traced  in  all 
its  holy,  healthful  parts  to  the  Gospel.” 

The  illustrious  Montesquieu,  whom  Burke  characterizes 
as  a man  “ with  Herculean  robustness  of  mind,”  in  his 
Spirit  of  Laws,  remarks : “ The  principles  of  Christianity 

deeply  engraven  upon  the  heart,  would  be  infinitely  more 
powerful  than  the  false  honor  of  monarchies,  the  human 
virtue  of  republics,  and  the  servile  fear  of  dqpotic  states.” 
And,  in  his  oration  on  the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner 
stone  of  the  extension  of  the  Capitol,  our  own  Webster  said: 
Let  the  religious  element  in  man’s  nature  be  neglected;  let 
him  be  iutluenced  by  no  higher  motives  than  low  self-interest 
and  subject  to  no  other  restraint  than  the  civil  authority, 
and  he  becomes  the  creature  of  selfish  passions  and  base 
fanaticism.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cultivation  of  religious 
sentiment  represses  licentiousness,  incites  to  general  benev- 
olence, and  a practical  acknowledgement  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man,  inspires  respect  for  law  and  order,  and  gives  strength 
to  the  whole  social  fabric,  at  the  same  time  that  it  conducts 
the  human  soul  upward  to  the  author  of  its  being.” 

And,  after  all  our  advantages  as  a people,  after  our  large, 
extensive  and  satisfactory  experiment  of  self-govornment, 
tear  up  the  Bible,  the  magna  charta  of  American  liberty, 
make  bonfires  of  the  Book  of  God,  raze  to  their  founda- 
tions, in  every  city  and  town  and  hamlet,  the  houses  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  Jehovah,  seal  the  tongues  and  close 
the  lips  of  the  ambassadors  of  Christ,  let  the  cause  of  the 


13 


Redeemer  be  no  longer  advocated,  let  the  name  of  Jesus 
be  no  longer  heard  on  the  lips  of  our  fathers,  our  states- 
men and  governors,  and  what,  with  all  our  boasted  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement,  would  be  the  result  ? The  hand  of 
despotism  would  scotch  the  wheels  of  the  car  of  freedom, 
anarchy  would  take  the  place  of  order,  vice  would  usurp 
the  throne  of  virtue,  the  potentate  of  revolted  angels  would 
become  the  prince  of  rebel  man,'’and  our  country  would  be- 
come a wide  field  of  radicalism  and  lawless  oppression,  of 
bloodshed  and  rapine.  Exclude  the  Gospel  from  these 
United  States,  and  soon,  by  the  morbid  dili^ation  of  the 
artery  of  democracy,  shall  there  be  formed  on  the  aorta  of 
the  body  politic,  a tumor  which,  whilst  it  enlarges,  shall 
close  up  the  healthful  channels  through  w'hich  flows  the 
life-blood  of  liberty. 

De  Tocqueville,  in  his  work  on  the  Democracy  of  Amer- 
ica, says  : “ It  is  easy  to  show  how'  much  the  success  of 

the  democratic  republic  in  the  United  States  is  due  to  the 

religious  feeling  of  the  people. As  long  as  Americans 

shall  preserve  the  severity  of  their  moral  conduct,  they  will 
presence  the  democratic  republic.” 

The  immortal  Washington,  on  resigning  the  Presidency, 
said : “ Reason  and  experience  forbid  us  to  expect  that 

morality  or  political  prosperity  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of 
religious  principle.’’  And  the  honorable  Simon  Greenleaf, 
one  of  the  ablest  jurists  our  country  has  produced,  re- 
marked : “Amid  the  fluctuations  to  which  all  governments 

are  exposed,  and  especially  ours,  with  a population  many  of 
whom  are  unaccustomed  to  liberty,  and  but  faintly  imbued 
with  Bible  truths,  the  Word  of  God  is  the  only  anchor  of 
safety.  In  proportion  as  men  feel  the  restraints  of  religion 
derived  from  this  source,  the  coercion  of  government  be- 
comes less  necessary,  and  liberty  may  be  more  fully 
enjoyed.  Men  may  be  permitted  to  do  as  they  please. 


14 

only  so  far  as  they  are  pleased  to  govern  themselves  by  the 
precepts  of  Christianity.  If  we  would  extend  the  blessings 
of  free  government  to  other  nations,  it  is  the  Bible  alone 
that  can  prepare  them  to  receive  it — the  Bible  opened  wide 
to  the  people  by  Protestant  hands.  For  it  is  this  alone 
that  exhibits  the  true  and  vital  principle  of  free  govern- 
ment— I mean  the  inseparable  union  of  liberty  with  law.” 

III.  We  advance  a step  further.  We  proceed  from  the 
probable  to  the  actual.  Having  noticed  what  Christianity 
is  capable  of  doing,  we  shall  attempt,  in  the  third  place,  to 
show  what  it  has  really  accomplished. 

We  assume  the  position,  that  the  history  of  Missions 
affords  a most  cogent  proof  and  convincing  illustration  of 
the  power  of  Christianity  to  civilize  and  polish  the  most 
barbarous  and  benighted  nations  and  people. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Their  early 
history  exhibits  them  as  a people  the  most  savage,  degra- 
ded and  cruel — as  a race  of  cannibals  immolating  to  their 
gods  human  victims,  recklessly  perpetrating  the  worst 
crimes — incest,  polygamy  and  murder. 

In  the  year  1819,  Bingham  and  Thurston  took  their 
departure  as  missionaries  to  these  Islands."*^  In  six  years 

after  thoir  arrival,  one  of  their  princes  might  have  been 
seen  making  a tour  through  his  dominion  to  enquire  into 
the  moral  state  of  his  subjects,  accompanied  by  a missionary 
of  the  cross  and  a hundred  followers — a sort  of  peripatetic 
academy — carrying  with  them  their  spelling  books  and 
slates,  and  the  prince  acting  as  a nursing  father  to  the 
infant  church,  exhorting  his  people  and  leading  in  their 
prayer  meetings.  Within  about  eleven  years  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Mission,  spacious  and  costly  churches 
were  erected,  fifty  thousand  scholars  were  under  the 


*Sec  Chowles  on  Missions  ; also  Bib.  Eep.,  Vol.  xx.  p.  505,  &c. 


15 


influence  of  Christian  teachers  ; temperance  societies  were 
constituted ; stringent  laws  were  enacted  and  rigidly  exe- 
cuted against  incest,  polygamy  and  other  flagrant  vices  to 
which  the  natives  were  addicted;  and  prayer  meetings  were 
regularly  attended  by  thousands  of  mothers  who  had  in 
their  younger  days  buried  their  offspring  alive.  In  1839, 
during  the  great  revival,  nearly  eleven  thousand  members 
were  added  to  the  churches.  In  1840,  in  these  Islands 
where  the  will  of  ignorant  and  cruel  despots  had  been  for 
ages,  the  supreme  law,  and  where  the  club  and  lance  were 
the  instruments  of  its  execution — a constitution  was 
adopted,  in  wliich  the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God  was 
acknowledged,  and  protection  guaranteed  to  all  forms  of 
worship.  The  Islands  were  placed  under  four  governors, 
to  whom  were  assigned  their  respective  districts,  and  the 
kings  and  chiefs,  together  with  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  were  to  form  a General  Assembly  for  legislation. 

If  we  had  no  other  illustration,  is  not  the  sketch  which 
we  have  just  presented  a sufficient  proof  of  the  correctness 
of  our  position  ? See  the  cloud  of  barbarism  which  so 
long  brooded  over  these  beautiful  Islands  dissipated  by  the 
bright  beams  of  the  Gospel ! Behold  the  blood-thirsty 
warriors  laying  down  their  clubs — beating  their  spears  into 
pruning  hooks,  and  sitting  as  disciples  at  the  feet  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  cross ! See  the  loathsome  anthro- 
pophagi now  the  meek  followers  of  the  lowly  Jesus  ! Be- 
hold their  beautiful  coral  churches,  erected  at  the  cost  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  dollars,  raising  their  domes  to  heaven 
and  crowded  with  devout  worshippers  ! Mark  the  aston- 
ishing change  in  their  social  relations — prostitution  pun- 
ished, polygamy  abolished,  conjugal  bands  respected,  chil- 
dren educated,  knowledge  disseminated,  arts  cultivated, 
temperance  societies  established,  God’s  sabbath  consecrated, 
serfs  made  citizens  and  enjoying  the  sweets  of  liberty,  and 


16 

say,  is  not  Christianity  the  civilizer,  refiner  and  elevator  of 
man  ? 

The  history  of  Missions  in  New  Zealand  affords  another 
striking  exemplification.  When  Mr.  Leigh  arrived  the^e  in 
1822,  the  country  was  distracted  by  the  most  cruel  and 
sanguinary  wars.*  One  of  the  chiefs  to  whom  he  was  intro- 
duced, boasted  of  having  quaffed  the  blood  of  a rival  chief- 
tain, and  one  of  their  priests  directed  his  attention  to  the 
bones  of  a young  woman  wdiom  he  had  killed  for  disobejing 
his  order,  and  given  to  his  men,  who  had  devoured  her  near 
the  place  where  the  bones  were  strewed. 

‘‘God  only  knows,”  says  another  Missionary,  “what  were 
my  feelings  when  I saw  a human  being  laid  at  length,  and 
roasting  between  two  logs  which  they  had  drawn  together 
for  the  purpose.”  Female  infanticide  was  not  only  com- 
mon, but  some  of  their  respectable  women  spoke  of  it  with 
apparent  satisfaction.  And  now  their  barbarous  customs, 
cruel  rites  and  cannibalism  are  abolished,  and  in  their  stead 
the  humanizing  and  hallowed  influences  of  Christianity 
are  felt.  A minister  who  has  lately  returned  from  a tour 
among  them  remarked  at  a Missionary  meeting  in  Eng- 
land : “ The  New  Zealanders  are  interesting,  both  as 

Christians  and  as  men,|  and  several  of  the  chiefs  with 
whom  I conversed,  displayed  great  mental  power  and  have 
a fair  share  of  religious  knowledge.”  “ The  Islands  of 
New  Zealand,”;|;  says  Sir  George  Grey,  “ which  no  foreigner 
could  approach  with  safety,  have  become,  ly  the  benign 
influence  of  Christian  Missionaries,  tvithout  the  aid  of  arms, 
or  any  other  of  the  usual  means  by  which  barbarous  countries 
have  been  acquired,  a valuable  dependency  of  Great  Britain^ 


*Cliowles  on  Missions,  Vol.  2,  p.  185. 
fPresbyterian,  Aug.  19,  1854. 

JIbid,  Sept.  9,  1854. 


17 

Do  not  such  facts  as  these  give  a triumphant  refutation 
to  the  false  philosophy  which  maintains  “that  to  make 
revelation  precede  civilization  in  the  order  of  time,  is  no 
less  absurd  than  to  pretend  to  unfold  to  a child  the  Prin- 
cipia  of  Newton  before  he  is  made  acquainted  with  the 
letters  of  the  alphabet  ” ? 

The  influence  of  Missions  in  China  presents,  we  think, 
another  illustration.  In  1807  the  first  missionary  arrived 
in  that  mighty  empire,  among  a people  extremely  vile  and 
disgustingly  polluted — liars,  thieves,  polygamists  and  infant 
killers.  Seven  years  after  his  arrival,  the  New  Testament 
was  translated,  and  two  thousand  copies  printed.  Soon, 
numerous  tracts  and  religious  books  were  largely  circulated. 

About  twenty-three  years  since,  a young  man  of  sixteen,"*" 
remarkable  for  his  talents  and  attainments,' while  on  a visit 
at  Canton,  received  a religious  tract  from  “a  man  with  large 
sleeves  and  long  beard.”  The  “Good  Words  Exhorting 
the  Age”  were  read  by  the  lad  and  laid  on  his  shelf.  Four 
years  elapsed,  and  when  convalescing  after  a severe  illness, 
the  tract  was  re-read.  Its  truth  filled  the  soul  of  Hung  with 
remorse  for  sin,  and  the  heathen  youth  wrote  : “ Besides 

the  God  of  heaven,  there  is  no  God.  Our  dependence  is 
on  the  full  atonement  of  Jesus.’’  “ While  he  was  musing, 
the  fire  burned”  He  did  not  long  hide  the  truth  in  his 
heart.  Like  a true  reformer,  he  proclaimed  the  precious 
doctrine.  It  gained  converts.  Idolaters  became  icono- 
clasts. Images  were  broken;  false  gods  “cast  to  the 
moles  and  bats.”  The  government  apprehended  danger. 
The  new  religionists  were  arrested,  persecuted,  and  two  of 
them  in  consequence  died.  The  slumbering  minds  of  the 
celestials  were  awakened:  apathy  was  exchanged  for  action. 
Thousands  sympathized,  and  ten  thousand  glittering  swords 


♦See  Biblic.  Rep.,  Vol.  sxyt.  p.  321. 


18 


were  unsheathed.  A revolution  was  commenced,  and  the 
Tartan  dynasty  began  to  totter.  And  now  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  strong  men  with  stout  hearts  are  marching 
through  the  empire,  accompanied  by  printers  and  printing 
presses,  striking  off  Bibles  and  religious  books.  This  in- 
vincible host  are  proclaiming  their  belief  in  the  sovereignty 
of  the  only  living  and  true  God,  and  their  dependence  on 
His  providence  for  every  blessing ; recognizing  the  doctrines 
of  man’s  depravity;  their  need  of  a mediator,  and  of  the 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  change  their  wicked  hearts. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  whose  camps  are  Bethels, 
whose  officers  are  religious  leaders  of  their  respective  com- 
panies, hundreds  of  thousands  of  warriors,  many  of  them — 
like  the  soldiers  of  Cromwell — carrying  their  Bibles  in  their 
bosoms,  are  banded  together,  avowedly,  for  the  purpose  of 
extirpating  the  idolatry  and  superstitions  of  centuries,  and 
of  exterminating  despotism.  Hosts  of  men  are  battling 
for  the  cause  of  God  and  liberty. 

And  to  what  instrumentality  is  this  wonderful  revolution 
and  reformation,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  be  traced  ? 
To  the  tract  handed  the  young  man  in  the  streets  of  Can- 
ton. In  other  words,  to  the  vigilance  of  a Christian  Mis- 
sionary. 

Let  us  for  a few  minutes  turn  our  attention  to  India, 
where,  for  forty  centuries,  idolatry  and  superstition,  with  all 
their  cruel  and  degrading  accompaniments,  held  undisputed 
dominion. 

Not  more  than  about  thirty-three  years  have  elapsed 
since  missions  have  been  prosecuted  with  any  degree  of 
efficiency  in  India.  Let  us  look  at  what  has  been  accom- 
plished. The  mtUe,  which  caused  the  annual  immolation 
of  thirty  thousand  widows,  has  to  a great  extent  been 
abolished.  Infanticide  has  been  very  considerably  re- 
pressed. Human  sacrifices  are  by  law  prohibited,  and  an 


19 

agency  is  established  to  snatch  the  unhappy  victims  from 
such  a terrible  doom.  The  sanguinary  association  of 
Thuggery  has  been  eradicated,  and  thus  the  lives  of  thous- 
ands have  been  saved.  And,  what  every  American  citizen 
will  esteem  no  small  advantage,  all  natives  of  India  are 
free  to  hold  their  own  conscientious  opinions  in  religion, 
without  fear  of  legal  penalties.”*  Add  to  this  the  immense 
influence  on  national  character  of  the  translation  of  the 
whole  Bible  into  ten  languages,  and  the  New  Testament 
into  five  others ; the  distribution  of  one  hundred  millions 
of  pages  of  Christian  literature ; one  hundred  and  twelve 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  native  Christians ; 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty  schools ; seventy- 
three  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-five  Hindu  children 
receiving  a Christian  education ; and  have  you  not  an 
overwhelming  demonstration  of  the  beneficial  influence 
which  Christian  Missions  have  exerted  on  the  civil  and 
social  condition  of  the  degraded  heathen  ? 

Contemplate  for  a moment  an  epitome  of  the  whole 
work.  0,  it  is  enough  to  warm  the  bosom  of  the  patriot, 
fire  the  heart  of  the  philanthropist,  and  thrill  with  delight 
the  soul  of  the  Christian.  Four  thousand  churches  have 
been  established,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pagans 
have  renounced  their  idols,  three  thousand  Missionary 
Schools  are  in  operation,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
scholars  are  receiving  a Christian  education,  the  Word  of 
God  has  been  translated  into  two  hundred  dialects,  and 
thirty-two  millions  of  Bibles  have  been  distributed. 

These  are  some  of  the  statistics  of  a cause  which  scep- 
ticism has  pronounced  a splendid  failure.  A failure,  indeed ! 
No  : the  success  of  Missions  is  one  of  the  triumphs  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

*Calcutta  Review,  quoted  in  South’n  Pres.,  Oct.  21, 1852.  Home 
and  Foreign  Rec.,  July,  1864.  Lowrie’s  Manual,  pp.  89-54. 


20 

" I see  her  toil,  abroad,  at  home, 

From  tropic  to  the  pole, 

Wherever  swells  a pagan  dome 
Or  weeps  a human  soul. 

The  sacred  fane  reflects  her  flight, 

The  soul  to  Christ  is  given  ; 

And  where  hung  out  the  pall  of  night 
Now  cluster  beams  of  heaven.” 

The  Banner  of  the  Cross  has  been  unfurled  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe.  It  has  been  fanned  by  the  gentle 
zephyrs  of  the  South,  and  rumpled  by  the  ruffian  blasts  of 
the  blustering  North,  l^n  the  Baltic’s  broad  billow  its  en- 
sanguined folds  have  been  reflected.  It  has  waved  over 
the  snow-clad  hut  of  the  Greenlander,  and  fluttered  in 
triumph  over  the  palace  of  the  Eastern  prince.  In  Africa, . 
in  India,  in  China,  in  the  Islands  of  the  South  Sea,  in  the 
deep  recesses  of  our  own  forests — East  and  West,  North 
and  South — around  it  have  gathered  hosts  of  faithful  ad- 
herents. 

The  self-denying  heralds  of  Immanuel  have  not  essayed 
to  satisfy  their  consciences  by  breathing  a sickly  senti- 
mentalism, and  whispering  commis|eration  for  a world  “sit- 
ting in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,”  in  the  ear 
of  old  England,  or  of  progressive  Young  America.  Not 
bribed  by  gold,  nor  enticed  by  the  prospect  of  worldly 
honor,  not  fascinated  by  the  siren  song  of  fame,  not  cheered 
by  the  plaudits  of  the  admiring  multitudes,  but  actuated 
by  a sense  of  duty  and  animated  by  a desire  to  promote 
God’s  glory  in  endeavoring  to  save  from  ruin  immortal 
souls — they  have  exiled  themselves  from  their  native  land 
and  estranged  themselves  from  the  firesides  of  their  child- 
hood and  from  the  associates  of  their  youth.  With  admi- 
rable moral  heroism,  not  a few  of  them  have  marched  be- 
yond the  confines  of  Christendom,  traversed  the  trackless 
ocean,  penetrated  “ the  dark  places  which  were  full  of  the 


21 


habitations  of  cruelty,”  endured  the  burning  heat  of  the 
tropics  and  breasted  the  chilling  blasts  of  the  polar  regions. 
Others  of  them,  men  of  liberal  education,  men  of  decided 
talents,  men  of  the  keenest  and  most  delicate  sensibilities, 
have  gone  as  pioneers  of  the  Gospel  into  our  distant  States 
and  Territories.  These  domestic  missionaries  are  enduring 
hardness  as  good  soldiers.  Many  of  them  are  living  on 
small  salaries  and  scanty  fare,  riding  solitary  and  alone 
over  our  immense  prairies,  wandering  through  our  dense 
and  unpopulated  forests,  sleeping,  occasional!}’',  beneath  the 
shade  and  shelter  of  their  spreading  oaks,  swimming  creeks 
and  rivers,  entering  their  pulpits  with  dripping  garments, 
and  proclaiming  God’s  truth  with  shivering  frames  : toiling 
and  laboring  and  praying  that  sinners  may  see  the  error  of 
their  ways  and  embrace  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
Savior. 

And  now,  are  we  not,  each  and  all,  prepared  to  admit, 
that  this  cause  has  weighty  claims  upon  us — claims  which 
no  Christian,  nay,  which  no  lover  of  the  human  family  will 
for  a moment  dispute — if  we  consider  not  only  the  great 
work  which  has  been  performed,  but  also  the  wide  field 
which  remains  to  be  cultivated  ? 

Within  the  bounds  of  our  own  immense  territory,  con- 
taining three  and  a-half  millions  of  square  miles,  there  are 
one  hundred  and  fort}'-six  thousand  Aborigines,  a very 
large  majority  of  whom  are  ignorant,  savage  and  degraded. 
To  these  heathen  at  home,  it  is,  undoubtedly,  our  duty  to 
send  the  Gospel. 

Into  California  thousands  of  Chinese  are  j^migratiug,  and 
amongst  them  there  are  a few  who,  in  their  own  land,  em- 
braced the  religion  of  Christ.  In  San  Francisco  a Mission 
house  has  been  erected,  a church  organized,  and  a minister 
acquainted  with  their  language  is  laboring  among  theci 
with  an  encouraging  prospect  of  success. 


22 


Besides  these,  there  are  myriads  of  men,  women  and 
children  flocking  to  our  shores  from  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  many  of  whom  are  exceedingly  ignorant,  uneducated, 
bigoted  and  superstitious.  We  bid  them  welcome.  It  is  the 
genius  of  our  republican  government  to  bid  the  stranger, 
the  homeless,  the  friendless  welcome.  Thank  God,  we  have 
room  enough,  work  enough,  food  enough,  a}^e,  and  freedom 
enough  for  them  all.  But  it  is  our  privilege  and  our 
bounden  duty  as  Christians — as  Presbyterians  who  believe 
that  the  Bible  is  the  bulwark  of  civil  liberty,  as  well  as 
“ the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how  we  may  glorify  God  and 
enjoy  Him  forever,”  it  is  our  duty — to  provide  for  them 
moral  and  religious  instruction  : to  put  the  Word  of  God 
into  their  hands  and  send  the  living  missionary  to  their 
homes.  Do  this — give  these  multitudes  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  impress  its  vital  truths  on  their  consciences  and 
and  hearts,  and  you  will  accomplish  more  politically,  as  well 
as  morally,  for  our  country  than  you  could  possibly  achieve 
by  rigid  municipal  laws  and  vigilant  city  police,  or  by  build- 
ing court-houses,  jails  and  penitentiaries. 

But  look  abroad ; for  charity,  though  she  begins  her 
work  at  home,  never  finishes  at  her  own  fireside.  Cast 
your  eye  over  the  world.  Array  before  your  imagination 
six  hundred  millions  of  pagans,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions  of  Mahomedans,  and  five  millions  of  Jews,  living 
without  any  well  grounded  hope  of  heaven  through  the 
atoning  blood  of  Christ,  and  are  you  not  prepared,  without 
a moment’s  hesitation, 'to  admit  that  this  great  work  of  a 
world’s  evangelization  has  high  and  holy  claims  on  us  as 
patriots,  philanthropists  and  Christians  ? 

Further,  this  noble,  God-like  work  has  paramount  claims 
on  us  as  Christians  who  profess  to  feel  the  love  of  Christ 
constraining  us,  in  view  of  its  future  career  and  glorious 
destiny. 


23 


The  preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  grand  instru- 
mentality ordained  by  God  for  the  reconciliation  of  a lost 
world  to  His  favor.  In  the  Scriptures  we  read,  that  “ all 
flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God;”  that  “Christ  shall 
have  the  heathen  for  His  inheritance  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  His  possession  ; ” that  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  of  His  Christ.” 

Brethren,  the  work  of  Missions  is  not  an  enterprise 
to  be  prosecuted  or  abandoned  at  discretion.  It  is  no  work 
of  supererogation  for  the  performance  of  which  we  may,  as 
a Church,  accumulate  a stock  of  merit.  So  intimately 
blended,  so  interwoven  its  it  wai*p  and  woof,  with  the  fabric 
of  Christianity,  that  to  refuse  to  co-operate  is  a virtual  in- 
fringement of  the  command  of  Christ,  and  a renunciation 
of  one  of  the  great  privileges  of  discipleship.  Christianity 
is  the  religion  of  man ; it  is  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the 
whole  human  family,  and  its  object  is  to  bring  the  nations 
of  the  earth  under  the  spiritual  dominion  of  Christ,  their 
Sovereign  Lord.  It  aims  to  unite  continent  to  continent, 
island  to  island,  ocean  to  ocean,  empire  to  empire,  until  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  gathered  into  one  fold  and 
acknowledge  one  Shepherd. 

It  is  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands, 
which  shall  smite  the  images  of  idolatry,  and  break  in 
pieces  the  false  gods;  and  whilst  the  monstrous  superstitions 
of  heathendom  are  scattered  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  like 
the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing  floors,  the  stone  shall 
roll  on,  roll  on,  still  accumulating  until  it  shall  become  a 
great  mountain  and  fill  the  globe.  It  is  like  the  streamlet 
which  Ezekiel  saw,  bursting  from  beneath  the  threshhold 
of  the  sanctuary,  deepening  and  deepening  its  channel  until 
it  became  an  unfordable  river,  and  gave  verdure  to  the 
trees  on  its  margin,  healed  the  impurity  of  the  streams  vith 


24 


which  it  commingled,  and  imparted  new  life  to  the  creatures 
by  which  it  was  inhabited.  So,  in  like  manner,  shall  the 
Gospel — the  river  of  life — flow  on,  deepening  and  widening 
its  channel  until,  with  healthful  power  and  restorative 
energ}',  it  shall  cover  the  waste  and  desolate  places  of  the 
earth,  invest  the  wilderness  with  beauty,  fructify  the  barren 
desert,  and  cause  it  to  blossom  with  the  freshness  and  ver- 
dure of  Eden. 

For  the  accomplishment  of  the  glorious  things  spoken  of 
Zion,  loant  more  men,  and  we  loant  more  means. 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  General 
Assembly  at  its  last  meeting  : 

“ That  the  Assembly  would  recommend  this  whole  sub- 
ject of  increase,  both  of  missionaries  and  missionary 
funds,  to  the  careful  and  prayerful  consideration  of  the 
pastors  and  sessions  of  all  our  churches,  that  they  may 
adopt  such  measures  as,  in  their  judgment,  will  best  secure 
the  attention,  awaken  the  Christian  sympathies,  and  call 
forth  the  cheerful  and  liberal  contributions  of  all  the  mem- 
bers of  their  respective  churches.” 

From  the  golden  hills  of  California  we  hear  the  Macedo- 
nian cry,  Send  us  more  Missionaries.  Through  the  gorges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  tones  of  thunder,  we  hear  it 
repeated.  Send  us  more  Missionaries.  From  pagan  India, 
with  its  teeming  myriads  of  idolaters,  and  from  the  Celes- 
tial empire,  with  three  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  im- 
mortal souls,  we  hear  the  cry  reiterated,  Send  us  more  Mis- 
sionaries. 

What  shall  we  do  ? What  answer  shall  we  return  ? 
Shall  the  melancholy  monotone  proceed  from  the  heart  of 
our  Synod,  We  have  no  more  men — no  more  means  ? 

0,  no,  brethren  : no.  Then  what  shall  we  do  ? 

First,  we  must  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he 
may  send  forth  more  laborers,  and  that  he  may  crown  the 


25 


labors  of  those  who  are  now  working  in  his  vineyard,  with 
more  abundant  success.  The  great  want  of  the  Church  is 
m.ore  prayer,  more  prayer  for  Missions,  more  prayer  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom.  Not  a formal, 
casual,  incidental  mention  of  Missions  in  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary  on  Sabbath  mornings,  but  warm,  ardent  prayers 
in  view  of  the  awful  condition  of  a world  lying  in  wicked- 
ness. Fervent  prayers  uttered  in  the  house  of  God  and 
preferred  at  the  family  altar  in  the  hearing  of  our  children, 
that  the  Lord  may  take  our  Isaacs  and  Samuels  and  make 
them  ministers  of  Jesus;  ardent  prayers  in  our  closets, 
too,  when  none  but  God  hears,  that  we  may  ourselves  im- 
bibe more  of  the  spirit  of  our  Master — more  of  a Mission- 
ary spirit.  Such  prayers  we  need,  from  grateful,  humble 
hearts,  in  our  pulpits,  in  our  families,  in  our  closets,  that 
the  Lord  will  cause  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
descend  in  copious,  reviving  showers  on  our  fields  of  Mis- 
sions ; cheering  the  drooping  hearts  of  our  beloved  brethren 
in  their  arduous  and  self-denying  work,  and  permitting 
them  to  behold  the  forest  changed  into  a fruitful  field. 

Secondly : To  carry  on  the  Missionary  enteri3rise  vigor- 
ously, we  want  more  means.  The  beneficence  of  a Church, 
or  of  an  individual,  has  a direct  and  a reflex  influence. 
The  witholding  of  a liberal  portion  of  the  goods  with  which 
God  has  has  blest  us  from  His  service  is  productive  of  a 
two-fold  evil.  It  retards  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  it  provokes  Jehovah  to  withhold  from 
ourselves  the  affluent  effusions  of  His  grace  and  Spirit. 
“He  which  soweth  sparingly  shall  also  reap  sparingly.” 

“ He  that  watereth  others  shall  be  watered  also  himself.” 

“ Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  store-house,  that  there 
may  be  meat  in  mine  house ; and  prove  me  now  herewith, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I will  not  open  the  windows  of 


2G 

heaven  and  pour  you  out  a blessing  that  there  shall  not  be 
room  enough  to  receive  it.”  ^ 

And  what  have  we  done,  as  a Synod,  for  the  cause  of 
Missions  ? What  has  been  the  amount  of  our  liberality 
individually  ? 

According  to  the  reports  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  we  contributed  during  the  last  ecclesiastical 
year  two  tJiomand  six  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  for  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions.  We  have  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-four  white  communicants.  If  we  estimate  our 
congregations  at  double  the  number  of  communicants,  then 
each  member  of  our  congregations  contributed,  on  an 
average,  a little  over  forty-seven  cents.  Not  even  a cent  a 
weelc  from  each  member  of  the  Presbyterian  congregations  be- 
longing to  the  wealthy  Synod  of  Nashville  ! The  measure  of 
our  responsibility  is  the  measure  of  our  ability. 

We  have  forty-eight  Churches  within  our  bounds, 
twenty-one  of  which  have  not  reported  a dollar  paid  to  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  and  thirty-two  of  the  forty- 
eight  have  not  reported  one  cent  paid  to  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions ! Brethren,  can  we  with  these  facts  star- 
ing us  in  the  face,  say  before  God,  “ We  have  done  what 
we  could  ” ? If  we  feel  we  are  verily  guilty — if  we  feel 
that  “ we  have  robbed  God,”  let  the  liberality  of  this  hour 
compensate,  in  some  degree,  for  past  defalcations. 

It  was  a grand  sight  to  which  the  eye  of  the  philanthro- 
pist was  directed  a few  years  since.  Melancholy  and  mys- 
terious as  was  the  dispensation  of  Providence  to  the  suf- 
ferers, it  was  an  arrangement  which  admirably  exhibited  to 
the  world  how  fully  and  freely  sympathy  flows  through  the 
great  heart  of  America,  and  how  liberally  and  copiously  its 
leaping,  sparkling  streams  gush  forth  and  fertilize  and 
replenish  the  sterile  and  parched  places  of  the  earth — when 
every  bosom  responded  to  the  wail  of  wo  whose  plaintive 


27 

tones  proceeded  from  Erin’s  isle.  0,  it  was  something  suf- 
ficient to  cause  the  heart  of  the  misanthrope  to  throb 
with  emotions  of  charity,  to  behold  the  citizens  of  this 
riclily  blest  and  highly  favored  land,  not  merely,  like  the 
reapers  of  Boaz,  scattering  “ with  charitable  stealth  the 
liberal  handful,”  that  the  perishing  poor  who  had  come  to 
our  country  might  glean  in  our  golden  fields,  but  unlock- 
ing your  barns,  and  opening  wide  your  granaries,  and  lading 
your  vessels  with  the  finest  of  your  wheat  and  corn,  and 
converting  the  man-of-war  into  a store  ship  freighted  with 
food  for  a famishing  people. 

Who  can  describe  the  gratitude  which  the  poor  sufferers 
felt ; who  can  clothe  with  words  of  burning  eloquence  the 
cordial  thanks  which  proceeded  from  the  stammering  lips 
and  faltering  tongues  of  the  pale  and  emaciated  victims 
who  were  snatched  from  a lingering  death  by  your  bounty  ? 
0,  methinks  I hear  them — their  hands  clasped  and  their 
eyes  upturned  towards  heaven — exclaiming  : “Americans, 
we  thank  you  : ‘ every  drop  of  blood  in  our  veins  thanks 
you.’  ” 

But  imagination  presents  vividly  before  the  eye  of  the 
Christian  minister,  when  he  advocates  the  cause  of  Mis- 
sions, a more  heart-rending  picture  than  that  which  Ireland 
exhibited,  when  gaunt  and  meagre  famine  glazed  the  eye 
and  sunk  the  cheek  and  palsied  the  limbs,  and  made  the 
once  sturdy  frames  of  her  stalwart  peasantry  lean,  lank 
and  painfully  erect.  On  the  shores  of  heathendom,  strewn 
on  her  scorching  sands,  covering  her  wild  solitudes,  we  see 
not  thousands  but  millions  of  our  fellow-beings,  ha\dng  the 
same  blood  coursing  their  veins,  proceeding  from  the  same 
primeval  stock  and  stamped  with  the  same  Divine  image, 
perishing  for  the  want  of  the  bread  of  life.  They  have  no 
knowledge  of  revealed  religion,  no  idea  of  the  true  God, 
no  friend  to  lead  them  in  the  narrow  way  of  life,  no  hand 


28 


to  point  them  to  the  Lamb  whose  sacrifice  is  sufficient  to 
atone  for  a world’s  transgressions,  no  tongue  to  tell  them 
the  story  of  the  cross — millions,  millions  there  are  in  nu- 
broken  succession  marching  down  to  perdition. 

And  will  not  you,  who  evinced  your  compassion  for,  and 
gave  substantial  demonstration  of  your  sympathy  with,  the 
famishing  sons  and  daughters  of  Ireland — will  not  you 
manifest  your  sympathy  for  the  perishing  heathen  ? You, 
who  at  the  bidding  of  humanity,  helped  to  feed  a fainting 
nation  with  the  bread  that  perisheth,  will  you  not,  at  the 
bidding  of  God,  deny  yourselves  to  send  the  bread  of  life 
to  a dying  world  ? You,  who  to-day  have  been  feasting  at 
the  blaster’s  table,  eujo}'ing  the  bounties  of  His  Provi- 
dence and  the  riches  of  His  grace  ; you,  who  have  heard 
Him  at  the  sacramental  board,  saying  : Eat,  0 friends  ; 

drink,  yea,  drink  twiTo^ikly,  0 beloved ; ” you,  who  would 
not  exchange  the  heavenly  manna  for  this  world’s  wealth  ; 
you,  who  would  not  barter  the  privilege  of  bathing  your 
weary  souls  in  the  living  streams  that  flow  from  Judah’s 
fount  for  the  diadems  of  princes  ; you,  who  are  ready  to 
say,  rather  than  let  the  Gospel  be  torn  from  my  heart,  let 
the  flesh  be  torn  from  my  bones — rather  than  resign  my  title 
to  the  blood  of  Christ,  let  my  blood  by  the  hand  of  perse- 
cution freely  flow — 0,  can  you,  will  you  refuse  to  contribute 
liberally,  largely,  bountifully,  for  the  spread  of  that  religion 
which,  like  a sheet-anchor,  is  the  sinking  sinner’s  last 
refuge,  and  which  links,  indissolubly,  the  immortal  soul  to 
the  imperishable  foundation  of  heaven’s  inner  temple  ? 

AVe  appeal  to  you  as  patriots  who  profess  to  bind  to  your 
consciences  and  to  twine,  with  three-fold  chord,  the  princi- 
ples of  freedom  around  your  affections.  We  appeal  to  you 
as  Southern  men  and  Western  men,  to  wffiom  God  has 
given  a goodly  heritage.  We  appeal  to  you,  on  whom 
Jehovah  Jesus  has  bestowed  much  of  this  world’s  goods. 


29 

and  to  whom  He  says,  the  gold  and  the  silver  and  the 
cattle  on  a thousand  hills  are  mine,  freely  have  ye  received, 
freely  give.  We  appeal  to  the  citizens  of  Nashville,  re- 
markable for  their  benevolence  and  munificence.  We 
appeal  to  the  Presbyterians  of  this  city,  who  have  been  so 
long  and  so  highly  blessed  by  the  ministrations  of  your 
beloved  pastors.  We  appeal  to  you,  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel, who,  though  your  income  be  comparatively  a pittance, 
will  not  withold  the  tithes  and  olferings.  We  appeal  to 
you,  Elders  of  the  Church,  who  are  the  honored  standard 
bearers  of  our  beloved  Zion,  and  who  are  expected  to  be 
examples  to  your  respective  congregations.  In  the  name 
of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  philanthropy,  in  the  name  of 
patriotism,  in  the  name  of  our  holy  religion,  in  the  sacred 
name  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — as  you  value 
the  disenthralment,  the  redemption  and  eternal  salvation 
of  a lost  world,  in  the  presence  of  an  All-seeing  God,  cast 
your  contributions  freely,  liberally,  cordially,  prayerfully, 
into  the  treasur}"  of  the  Lord. 


."1^  j>3 .4^4^  ^ »‘-4^'  't'.  w . ' 


,'\’i  j‘.-f  ‘ 


'3??r  V %I®>:  .*,^V‘  ^ «-^* 

^ drij'/  9d»,(Ji  '*'•  . \ 

T ■ , ^.^aaeicf  vl§H,f  f ir‘ _ ':  -|r*'  ^ . 

itif  >iJl.  •>);  J»w  ^ V^KjA?  ■ 


. t l«p^VoI(  tjjJ  j>t^»r  >.-.r ; fujr 


✓v 


fyiAbii  ^ • 04'^  ^.iJ;i(0  *5.^  <0»^s£ , ti-^H  ‘ 

3,cim  rf'"  I^v  ^ 


. ■'  '^^.'jrff»«  '^h^tflutjX'Ti.'ti  '-'jt 


‘li^i  <r«  i .4iijkii^ii^, , I . f/-  ^*0  Aoiiiifl<lB  to''  *'  W'*/ 


y ; r^ili 


V-' 


,«■■.  i,ifc.^« 


>,-1 


: ' , ■"  ,v  y-^-A,-!. 

' ■,  ffi.  '-X|’  ■ 

U 


...^  _ 'a-', :/-!&• 


-V'!'  - «■■ 


*n 


f-: 

• >:■♦ 

4 

• r.4- 


I,  111,'  ■ •_  < * /vj^‘  ’.•_ 

.V:  . ‘ 


< ^.  'i  /4r./-^t  . M :* 

♦ /’  ak  * « ’£  ’-■;  »* 


•*  # 


. r 


’••i 


■'  • *-■ 


.-1 

, -.'i> 


'.'  ?■<* 


■\. 

•/ 


.,  » 


■ 

* ^ H 


MMWk. 

3 LSD 
'A  I S& 
n,L 

Guidelines  For  Today’s  Ministry 


Commencement  Address 


Francis  E.  Kearns 
Resident  Bishop 
Ohio-East  Area 
Methodist  Church 


May,  1966 


GUIDELINES  FOR  TODAY’S  MINISTRY 


The  guidelines  for  today’s  ministry  which  I would  lift  before 
you  on  this  significant  day  are  those  given  by  Paul  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  II  Corinthians.  They  are  really  Paul’s  testimony  as  to 
the  guidelines  in  his  own  ministry.  We  are  strengthened  and  in- 
spired in  our  ministry  when  we  gain  insights  into  the  experiences 
of  another  whose  witness  was  both  relevant  and  compelling  in 
the  day  in  which  he  lived. 

The  first  guideline  comes  from  these  words,  “For  what  we 
preach  is  not  ourselves,  but  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord.”  This  testi- 
mony is  true  to  the  faith  of  the  first-Century  Christians  who 
were  a community  of  believers  in  worship,  in  study,  in  witness 
and  in  service  and  who  declared  their  faith  with  the  affirmation 
“Jesus  Christ  is  Lord.” 

He  is  Lord  of  our  individual  lives.  Man  has  been  created  in 
and  through  and  for  Christ.  He  is  Lord  over  all  the  areas  of  our 
lives — our  thoughts,  our  desires,  our  ambitions,  our  decisions, 
our  purposes.  At  all  times  and  in  all  places  he  demands  willing 
and  complete  obedience. 

He  is  Lord  of  creation.  The  Lordship  and  sovereignty  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  clearly  set  forth  in  Colossians  1:15-20.  This 
passage  lifts  up  the  centrality  of  Christ  both  in  the  universe 
and  in  the  church.  He  is  “the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  the 
first-born  of  all  creation;  for  in  him  all  things  were  created 
. ...  all  things  were  created  through  and  for  him.”  The 
emphasis  upon  “all  things”  repudiates  the  thought  of  a fun- 
damental division  between  the  sacred  and  the  secular.  Matter 
and  spirit  alike  are  of  divine  origin.  As  a theological  student 
I remember  that  I was  somewhat  shocked  when  Bishop  Mc- 
Connell said  that  “Christianity  is  the  most  materialistic  religion 
in  the  world.”  As  I thought  about  it  I realized  that  what  he 
was  saying  was  that  Christianity  emphasizes  the  world  of  crea- 
tion in  which  matter  has  sacramental  meaning.  Here  we  have 
a basis  for  Bonhoeffer’s  accent  upon  “the  holy  worldliness  of 
the  church.” 

Our  tendency  has  been  to  relocate  the  church,  not  only 


in  the  suburbs,  but,  what  is  even  worse,  we  have  removed  it 
from  the  world  and  from  our  culture.  Our  separation  has  been 
so  great  that  we  tend  to  become  “commuters”  between  the 
church  and  the  world. 

By  placing  a higher  value  on  the  sacred  and  a lower  value 
on  the  secular  we  have  even  encouraged  a division  within  the 
church  itself.  There  are  two  grades  of  citizens  in  the  church — 
the  laity  and  the  clergy.  Too  often  the  laity  have  become 
second  class  citizens  whose  responsibility  is  to  assist  the  min- 
ister in  performing  the  less  important  tasks  within  the  life  of 
the  church.  Many  of  you  will  be  ordained  elders  in  the  near 
future.  You  will  be  ordained,  not  to  a special  order  of  priests, 
but  to  a specific  function  of  ministry  in  the  Christian  commu- 
nity. Your  primary  task  through  your  preaching  and  teaching 
will  be  “to  equip  the  saints  for  the  work  of  ministry.”  There 
are  divisions  of  function  in  the  body  of  Christ,  but  there  is  no 
place  for  distinctions  of  status.  The  “call”  is  for  every  Christian 
to  participate  in  the  priesthood,  in  the  ministry  of  Christ.  “Every 
shoemaker  can  be  a priest  of  God  and  stick  to  his  own  last 
while  he  does  it,”  said  Martin  Luther. 

Another  result  of  the  separation  of  the  sacred  and  the 
secular  has  been  an  increasing  pre-occupation  of  churchmen 
with  the  institutional  church  to  the  neglect  of  their  Christian 
responsibilities  in  the  world. 

A young  Japanese  theologian  referred  to  our  approach  as 
“removing  fish  from  a dirty  river,  called  the  world,  and  plac- 
ing them  in  a clean  pool  called  the  church.”  Both  the  church 
and  the  world  are  God’s  creation.  The  church  is  in  the  world 
and  the  world  is  in  the  church.  We  are  the  church  at  home, 
at  work,  in  the  voting  booth,  at  the  union  meeting,  at  the 
employer’s  meeting,  in  our  recreation.  In  the  incarnation  God 
stood  alongside  of  us  in  the  world.  As  followers  of  Christ  who 
was  the  incarnation  of  God  we  are  to  live  in  the  midst  of  the 
world  to  minister  to  the  world.  We  need  to  take  seriously  the 
prayer  of  our  Lord,  “I  do  not  pray  that  thou  shouldst  take 
them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldst  keep  them  from 
the  evil  one.”  We  are  not  saved  from  the  world.  Rather  we 
are  saved  in  the  world.  In  our  ministry  we  are  to  acknowledge 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  Lord  of  all  creation. 


A second  guideline  for  ministry  is  revealed  in  these  words, 
“With  ourselves  as  your  servants  for  Jesus’  sake.”  Paul  was  a 
grateful  servant  of  Christ  which  made  him  a willing  servant 
of  God’s  people.  His  desire  to  be  a humble  servant  was  created 
in  him  by  the  living  Christ  who,  instead  of  aspiring  to  a higher 
status,  emptied  himself  that  he  might  serve  mankind.  He  did 
not  merely  disguise  himself  as  a servant,  but  he  became  a 
servant,  subject  to  all  human  weaknesses  and  limitations.  He 
fully  identified  himself  with  man.  He  “humbled  himself”  mean- 
ing that  he  gave  up  all  personal  ambitions,  aU  self-seeking  im- 
pulses, and  surrendered  himself  without  reserve  to  the  will  of 
God.  He  claimed  no  rights  of  his  own.  His  attitude  was  one 
of  complete  submission.  Dr.  Ernest  Scott  writes  that  “the  very 
secret  of  Christ’s  nature  was  his  complete  unselfishness  and  it 
was  by  this  road  and  no  other  that  he  arrived  at  his  sovereign 
place  in  the  plan  of  God.” 

With  this  lofty  example  of  servanthood  in  mind,  Paul  says 
to  the  Christians  at  Corinth,  we  are  “your  servants  for  Jesus’ 
sake.”  Pastoral  care  finds  its  roots  in  the  awareness  that  all 
Christians  are  to  be  servants.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  priest 
was  the  custodian  of  the  nation’s  religious  tradition.  To  him  the 
people  were  to  turn  for  understanding  and  guidance  in  all 
problems  which  involved  their  relationship  to  God  and  to  each 
other. 

The  prophets  are  often  characterized  as  those  who  pro- 
claimed the  will  of  God  to  the  people  with  peculiar  divine 
authority  and  sometimes  in  thunderous  accent.  But  there  is 
also  clear  indication  that  they  were  concerned  for  individuals. 

The  Gospels  represent  Jesus  as  the  great  physician  and  as 
the  good  shepherd.  People  never  felt  that  he  was  bringing  an 
external  judgment  upon  them,  but  that  he  was  trying  to  under- 
stand them  from  within.  A significant  part  of  Jesus’  pastoral 
care  focused  on  those  who  were  excluded  from  the  religious 
community.  He  did  not  wait  for  them  to  come  to  him.  He 
went  to  them  and  sought  for  every  opportunity  to  relate  himself 
to  them  in  a meaningful  way.  Through  him  the  love  of  God 
reached  out  with  its  reconciling  and  redeeming  power. 

In  no  community  can  the  minister  do  all  that  needs  to  be 
done  in  pastoral  care.  This  becomes  the  responsibility  of  every 


Christian  who  is  a member  of  the  community  of  faith.  It  can 
be  truly  said  that  no  church  is  fulfilling  its  nature  and  its  mis- 
sion unless  it  is  a servant  church.  A great  deal  of  criticism  has 
been  focused  upon  the  modern  church  at  this  point.  The  church 
has  allowed  itself  to  become  ingrown  until  its  major  concern 
centers  upon  itself  and  its  own  interests.  It  is  so  easy  for  the 
church  to  “imbed  itself  in  the  cocoon  of  irrelevance.”  The 
modern  church  is  threatened  to  become  paralyzed  by  a crip- 
pling sense  of  self-preoccupation.  The  disease  has  been  referred 
to  as  “organization  sclerosis — a hardening  of  its  institutional 
arteries  ...” 

The  church  today  is  called  to  be  a servant  church  in  the 
world.  God  is  not  “out  yonder”  or  “afar  off.”  God  is  deeply 
involved  in  the  struggles,  the  trials,  the  testings  through  which 
his  people  are  going.  He  is  not  alone  within  the  walls  of  the 
sanctuary;  he  is  not  imprisoned  vrithin  the  pages  of  the  Bible. 
He  is  with  his  people  in  their  severe  testings  and  in  their  deci- 
sion making.  Toward  the  end  of  his  life  Archbishop  Temple 
said  that  “he  was  sure  that  God  was  concerned  with  many 
things  beside  religion.” 

We  Christians  often  have  a hard  time  to  be  persuaded 
that  God  is  in  the  great  social  struggles  of  our  day.  Some  lay- 
men cannot  understand  why  their  ministers  tr)^  to  relate  the 
gospel  to  these  social  struggles  through  which  people  are  going 
or  why  they  encourage  their  lay  people  to  become  participants. 
What  are  some  of  these  issues?  Included  would  be:  the  in- 
clusive church,  war  and  peace,  civil  rights,  fair  employment 
practices,  fair  housing,  the  rehabilitation  of  alcoholics,  the  re- 
habilitation of  criminals.  These  are  all  concerns  of  the  servant 
church  dedicated  to  the  will  and  purpyose  of  God  in  the  com- 
munity. 

To  be  a servant  church  in  the  future  we  will  need  a 
revolutionary  modification  of  our  structures.  This  should  not 
be  too  difficult  for  us  to  accept  as  Protestants  because  we  do 
not  believe  in  the  infallibility  of  the  church.  The  institution 
of  the  church  should  always  be  flexible  and  look  upon  itself 
as  a servant  of  Christ — not  an  end  in  itself.  This  does  not  mean 
that  we  are  not  going  to  have  any  structure.  I cannot  imagine 
Christians  fulfilling  their  mission  in  the  world  in  a totally  dis- 


ordered  fashion.  There  must  be  some  kind  of  order  for  effective 
witness  and  service.  John  Wesley  realized  the  need  of  purposeful 
organization  to  preserve  the  results  of  his  evangelistic  efforts.  A 
careful  evaluation  of  our  present  structure  will  enable  us  to 
change  in  the  direction  of  our  new  understanding  of  the  nature 
and  mission  of  the  church.  It  will  lead  us  to  greater  participa- 
tion in  the  ecumenical  movement  through  which  all  of  us  may 
enter  more  fully  into  that  unity  which  has  been  given  to  us 
in  Christ.  If  we  are  flexible,  we  will  be  led  from  an  institution 
preoccupied  with  itself  to  a servant  church  in  the  world. 

Dr.  George  Adams  Smith  defined  a servant  as  “a  person 
at  the  disposal  of  another  to  carry  out  his  will,  to  do  his  work, 
to  represent  his  interests.”  A servant  church,  then,  is  a church 
who  is  at  the  disposal  of  her  Lord  to  carry  out  his  will,  to  do 
his  work  and  to  represent  his  interests  in  the  world. 

A third  guideline  calls  our  attention  to  the  message — “the 
gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ”  or  in  Dr.  Phillips’  translation 
“the  glorious  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.”  Paul  was  determined  to 
keep  the  focus  of  attention  on  the  gospel  as  it  was  disclosed 
in  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  far  from  his  wish  that  he  should  impress 
by  his  personality.  It  was  his  deepest  desire  that  the  message 
should  convince  by  its  own  inspiring  truth.  His  enemies  accused 
him  of  tampering  with  the  Word  of  God.  Such  a charge  is  not 
unknown  today.  It  is  often  used  against  those  who  accept  the 
help  of  modern  scholarship  in  their  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Paul  refused  to  use  the  Scriptures  as  a means  of  manipu- 
lating people  to  his  own  ends.  His  approach  to  the  message 
was  by  “the  open  statement  of  the  truth.”  He  assumed  that  the 
Scriptures  manifest  the  truth  about  God  and  man  and,  there- 
fore, correspond  with  universal  human  needs  and  aspirations. 

Preaching  is  primarily  kery'gmatic — the  proclamation  of 
the  gospel.  The  heart  of  the  gospel  is  the  story  of  a gracious 
God  who  reaches  out  to  his  erring  children  in  their  need  and 
restores  the  broken  relationship  in  an  act  of  suffering  love. 
Dean  Inge  reminded  us  long  ago  that  the  gospel  is  “not  good 
advice  but  good  news.”  It  is  a joyous  word  from  God  to  man 
in  the  depths  of  his  existence.  The  gospel  is  not  merely  the 
proclamation  of  an  idea,  but  of  God’s  action  in  history — past, 
present  and  future.  It  is  the  good  news  of  a terrific  force  let 


loose  in  history  for  the  redeeming  of  mankind.  This  gospel  has 
the  power  to  shatter  the  heart  with  wonder  and  to  shake  the 
world  with  hope. 

Of  this  glorious  gospel  we  are  called  to  be  the  proclaimers. 
There  is  a crying  need  for  such  preaching  today — not  preaching 
that  is  brilliant,  but  proclamation  that  has  about  it  the  ring  of 
reality.  Dr.  Spike  reminds  us  that  “preaching  that  is  rigorously 
faithful  to  the  central  biblical  themes  of  creation,  judgment, 
redemption  and  resurrection  is  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the 
American  Church.”  Dr.  Sockman  pleads  for  biblical  preaching 
and  says  that:  “Gripping  sermons  can  start  on  the  sidewalk 
level  where  men  are  living  and  then  lead  their  thoughts  into 
the  biblical  uplands  of  the  soul  where  men  are  transformed  by 
the  renewing  of  their  minds.” 

There  was  an  urgency  about  first  century  preaching  which 
is  quite  lacking  in  our  preaching  today.  The  proclamation  was 
charged  with  reality  as  the  world-changing  events  in  the  life, 
death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  were  recounted.  Then 
was  related  what  had  actually  happened  to  the  community  of 
believers  through  the  power  of  his  living  presence.  Dr.  Hazelton 
reminds  us  that  preaching  is  in  the  doldrums  today;  that  our 
mood  is  largely  untouched  by  the  urgency  of  preaching.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  once  said  that  he  never  really  enjoyed  listening 
to  a preacher  until  he  began  acting  as  though  he  were  fighting 
bees. 

What  about  our  preaching?  Is  it  our  aim  by  clever  tricks 
to  manipulate  the  minds  and  emotions  of  people?  Are  we 
striving  for  popularity?  Do  we  feel  obligated  to  impress  the 
people  with  our  profundity?  This  might  pass  once  in  a while. 
Richard  Baxter  said  that  he  liked  to  preach  a sermon  above 
the  heads  of  the  people  once  a year  to  show  them  that  he  could 
do  it  every  Sunday  if  he  wanted  to.  Do  we  go  into  our  pulpits 
to  bare  our  opinions?  If  so,  then  we  are  guilty  of  what  Henry 
Sloane  Coffin  called  “ecclesiastical  nudism.”  Bonhoeffer  raises 
a searching  question  when  he  asks,  “Does  not  our  preaching 
contain  too  much  our  own  opinions  and  convictions  and  too 
little  of  Jesus  Christ?” 

It  would  be  misleading  to  give  you  the  impression  that  the 


congregation  will  be  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  pews  every 
Sunday  morning  eagerly  waiting  for  your  message.  A young 
man  came  to  Dr.  Gossip  and  apologized  for  missing  one  of  his 
lectures.  He  explained  that  he  had  to  go  to  preach.  Dr.  Gossip 
inquired,  “How  did  you  get  along?”  “Well,”  the  young  man 
replied,  “I  didn’t  get  along  too  well;  I didn’t  get  very  far  in 
the  sermon  until  the  congregation  froze  me  up.”  Dr.  Gossip 
asked  him  where  he  had  preached.  The  young  man  told  him. 
Dr.  Gossip  smiled  and  said,  “Well,  don’t  worry  about  that, 
I preached  in  that  same  church  thirty  years  ago  and  I’m  still 
thawing  out.” 

However,  I can  assure  you  that  people  will  be  much  more 
responsive  to  your  preaching  if  you  reveal  a deep  undertone  of 
passion  and  urgency  than  they  will  be  if  you  preach  as  though 
what  you  are  saving  doesn’t  matter  after  all.  If  we  are  pro- 
claiming the  “glorious  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,”  then  our  preach- 
ing should  have  something  about  it  like  a knock  on  the  door 
which  calls  for  attention  and  which  calls  for  action.  We  are 
challenging  people  for  a verdict  in  their  relation  to  Christ  as 
their  Lord. 

The  fourth  guideline  is  revealed  when  Paul  testifies,  “We 
have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  to  show  that  the  tran- 
scendent power  belongs  to  God.”  “The  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ”  was  a treasure 
given  to  Paul  which  he  was  to  make  real  through  his  life  and 
message.  Paul  was  so  conscious  that  this  treasure  was  contained 
in  “a  frail  vessel  of  earth.”  And  then  he  recalled  that  it  was 
through  the  humble  earthly  life  and  shameful  death  of  Jesus 
that  God  had  done  his  revealing  and  redeeming  work. 

Redemptive  work  is  always  costly  for  the  individual  dis- 
ciple and  for  the  community  of  believers.  There  is  no  hope  of 
ease  and  comfort  for  those  who  are  faithful  servants  of  Christ. 
There  is  no  way  for  Christians  to  evade  the  burden  and  the 
heat  of  the  day.  Physical  weariness,  sickness  of  heart,  bitter 
disappointments,  frustration  of  hopes,  the  strain  of  Christlike 
concern — all  these  the  minister  will  experience  in  full  measure. 
Paul,  together  with  the  community  of  believers,  knew  the  deep 
agony  of  suffering  for  Christ.  What  an  eloquent  testimony! 
“We  are  afflicted  in  every  w'ay,  but  not  crushed;  perplexed. 


but  not  driven  to  despair;  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  struck 
down,  but  not  destroyed.”  How  real  to  them  must  have  been 
“the  dark  night  of  the  soul.”  And  yet  it  all  had  a purpose — 
“to  show  that  the  transcendent  power  belongs  to  God.” 

You  will  be  tempted  to  be  overcome  by  the  magnitude 
of  the  task  and  to  be  overwhelmed  by  your  own  unworthiness. 
The  members  of  the  congregation  will  not  always  change  as 
rapidly  as  you  desire  that  they  should.  They  will  drag  their 
feet  on  some  causes  which  to  you  are  so  important  for  the 
relevance  of  the  gospel  in  our  day.  You  will  be  disappointed 
to  learn  that  people’s  attitudes  are  resistant  to  change.  There 
will  be  times  when  the  flags  will  not  be  waving  and  the  trum- 
pets will  not  be  blowing.  You  will  find  yourself  plodding  along 
a road  that  is  steep  and  rough.  You  may  even  wonder  at  times 
why  you  accepted  a commission  in  such  a warfare.  Then  it 
is  that  you  will  be  encouraged  and  strengthened  to  realize  that 
while  your  vessel  is  earthen  and  frail,  the  transcendent  power 
belongs  to  God. 

Thomas  Chalmers  was  musing  over  the  problem  as  to  why 
there  were  not  more  spiritual  results  from  his  deliriously  popular 
ministry.  He  came  to  this  conclusion — that  he  was  trusting 
more  to  his  own  animal  heat  and  activity  than  to  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

In  the  New  Testament  God’s  presence  and  power  were 
manifested  to  those  who  accepted  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Lord 
and  were  striving  to  be  his  willing  servants  in  the  world.  God 
is  ready  and  willing  to  dwell  in  us  at  the  deepest  levels  of  our 
being,  cleansing  the  roots  of  behavior  and  purifying  the  springs 
of  motivation.  Such  an  awareness  of  his  Holy  Spirit  comes  to 
those  who  are  fully  committed  to  him.  As  Dr.  Thurman  says, 
such  commitment  is  “the  yielding  of  the  nerve  center  of  con- 
sent.” It  means  that  something  total  within  us  says  “yes”  to 
God. 

Paul  has  given  us  significant  guidelines  for  our  ministry 
today.  We  are  to  acknowledge  the  Lordship  of  Christ  in  all 
creation.  We  are  to  be  servants  of  Christ  and  part  of  a servant 
community  whose  mission  is  in  the  world  and  to  the  world. 
We  are  to  proclaim  the  gospel  that  men  may  come  to  a knowl- 


edge  of  the  glory  of  God  disclosed  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  to 
give  ourselves  to  courageous  witness  and  unselfish  service  so 
that  beyond  the  earthen  vessels  men  will  be  aware  of  the 
transcendent  p>ower  of  God. 


